Documentaries

Sometimes there's a joker or two ("Sicko," "Super Size Me") tucked into the documentary nominees. Not this year. All five contenders deal in a straightforward manner with serious, even dire, subjects. Meanwhile, foreign film contenders took subtle approaches in works with strong political subtexts. Documentary subjects include the rapid degradation of the world's oceans and wildlife ("The Cove"), the way factory farming may be hazardous to your health ("Food, Inc.")

The prime-time TV season doesn't begin officially until Sept. 22, but competition among the networks' first-run entertainment programming really begins two weeks earlier, on Sept. 8. Once that happens, documentaries are programs non grata . So, in a rush to grab the time while they can, the networks' news divisions have scheduled four for the week of Sept. 1. That's the same number in one week that they've had on in the previous three months.

Documentary film maker Richard Leacock has been involved with film since he was 13--as a cameraman, editor, writer, producer, director and educator. "I love finding out how people tick," he says. This curiosity has led, at 66, to a body of work that includes at least 150 documentaries and a reputation as a technical and stylistic innovator. Leacock has been singled out for recognition today by the 800-member International Documentary Assn.

Looking at the titles of some of the fall's most noted documentaries, one could get an impression of a world spiraling desperately out of control. With titles such as "The House I Live In," Eugene Jarecki's Sundance-prize winning examination of the war on drugs opening Oct. 5; "How to Survive a Plague," David France's look at AIDS activism (Sept. 21); "Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare," Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke's take on U.S. healthcare (Oct. 5); and "Detropia," Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's exploration of Detroit as a focal point of economic and social change (Oct.

Since 1997, the International Documentary Assn. has qualified more than 161 short and feature-length documentaries for Oscar consideration with its DocuWeeks Theatrical Documentary Showcase in Los Angeles and New York. DocuWeeks presentations have earned 17 Oscar nominations, with seven films going on to win the coveted award, including 2008's "Smile Pinki" and 2007's "Taxi to the Dark Side." The 14th annual DocuWeeks showcase, which screens at the ArcLight Hollywood, as well as the IFC Center in New York, begins Friday and continues through Aug. 19. Each of the 17 feature documentaries and five shorts will screen for one week with several showings each day, thus giving these films the theatrical runs they need to qualify for Academy Award consideration.

It probably comes as no surprise that a wildly successful movie about the mating and survival habits of a flock of flightless birds has made the short list of 15 potential nominees out of 82 eligible submissions in the documentary feature category for the 78th Academy Awards, but "March of the Penguins" has plenty of company.

Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has agreed to participate in a television documentary about his life, a British group announced Tuesday. Directors International said Gorbachev agreed to be interviewed for four one-hour programs and has given the group access to his personal archives, friends and family.

January 27, 1989 | SUE SUMMERS, Summers is a London-based journalist specializing in the media. and

An independent inquiry made public Thursday vindicated a controversial British TV documentary, marking a rare victory for embattled TV journalists here. The findings were a slap in the face for the Thatcher government, which quickly criticized them.

Fans of "The Sopranos" are still debating the fate of Tony Soprano, but the actor who won three Emmys for his portrayal of the New Jersey mobster has moved on. James Gandolfini's production company, Attaboy Films, will debut its first project, "Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq," on HBO on Sept. 9. The documentary tells the stories of 10 wounded troops and the day they escaped death. Gandolfini, who has visited Iraq with the USO, conducts the interviews. Maria Elena Fernandez

A variety of cinematic newcomers and veterans will be showcased during the sixth annual Las Vegas Film Festival on July 18-21. The four-day event will include an eclectic mix of feature films, documentaries and creative shorts. The opening day of the festival, which will be at the LVH (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton), will launch with the 1 p.m. screenings of works by student filmmakers from Nevada. Two full-length features will be shown that evening, including “Sanitarium,” a psychological thriller starring Lacey Chabert (“Mean Girls”)